7 Steele & Education
by SteeleHere44
Summary: Story 7 A case, a teacher and Mr. Steele. What to expect?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer:

Remington Steele and its characters are owned by MTM. No copyright infringement intended. For entertainment purposes only.

Set after Season 4. Bonds of Steele and Season 5 don't exist in my universe.

Steele & Education

Chapter 1

The smell was too tempting just to ignore it even in dreams. She opened her eyes in slow motion just to find a pair of blue ones lovingly staring at her. The light in the room told her the sun was just beginning to show up in the sky.

"Hi," she told him. "It's very early …Why are you awake? Am I still dreaming…?" She was barely able to put the words together.

He didn't say a word. He just kept staring at her, tracing a finger up her left cheek, and brushing back a few strands of hair near her ear. Still in silence, in a slow move he turned to his nightstand, and grabbed the aromatic cup of coffee waiting for her from there.

"Well, it seems like I am not dreaming anymore." She rearranged herself. "A delicious smell and an amazing view, that's what I call a good start." She got up from the bed with a smile, and leaning against the headboard, took the coffee in her hands. After having a sip she asked him, "And what is the ulterior motive to this special treatment I am receiving this morning?"

He was still in silence, peacefully staring at her. After a while, he spoke, "I was afraid to be dreaming as well, so I kept my voice off just to lengthen the moment. You look beautiful this morning and I didn't want to break the spell."

She sipped another drink of her coffee, and leaving the cup on her nightstand she stared at his eyes. "You would never have a chance to break the spell, because you are a part of it." She turned herself towards him, and taking his face in her hands she gave him a sweet good morning kiss. It was brief, but just perfect to tell him that it wasn't a dream. The smile that lightened his face was enough to tell her that she had been successful in her attempt. "See? The spell is not broken! It's a lovely day, the morning is still young, we are still in bed, neither of us needs to be dreaming anymore, and a journey full of excitement is ahead of us." She ended her words raising her eyebrows.

In a very bold move, he caught her from the waist, and pulled her down to the bed, his lips inches from hers. "Did I hear the word _excitement_? I feel I can be a part of that word too," he whispered. He started his demonstration then, about how fond of the word he was, and how the day would start just as she wanted…Maybe just as he wanted too: with a lot of excitement…

It was a wonderful February day. The morning was still fresh, but the sun was already warming their flesh. They decided to drive the Auburn instead of calling Fred, and while feeling the delightful breeze against their faces, both of them felt satisfied with the decision.

They were stopped at Robertson Blvd near Century City waiting for the green light, when Mr. Steele asked his first work question of the week. "Perhaps you would like to enlighten me on what our first appointment of the week is about Miss Holt? I heard you were talking with Mildred about a School Director on Friday?" he asked.

"Well, I don't have too much information yet, but it seems that our client owns a school, directed it, and she wants to talk with us personally to tell us what is bothering her," she answered. Giving a look at him she said, "You never cease to surprise me! How is it that if you heard us talking on Friday, you managed to control your intrigue about the new case until today?"

"Don't be surprised Miss Holt. Even if I didn't have the chance to enjoy a regular California school, I know that you never have to speak about duty or school on a Friday night date. It would spoil the magic of the spell," he said as he looked at her.

"We are back to the _spell_ word again, are we?" she said in a sarcastic tone.

"Ah, Miss Holt…Don't get confused with semantics. I am truly aware that I must keep that word out of our duty conversations. As we recently had the chance to enjoy the meaning of the word in our early private moments, I would not dare to introduce it into our professional world. It's very dangerous to mix business with pleasure. I'm trying to follow my favorite teacher's advice." He looked at her, winking his eye.

"I'm sure you are, Mr. Steele," she told him punching his arm as a warning while hiding her smile.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Good morning Mildred," said a very businesslike Miss Holt.

"Morning, morning, morning…"

"Good morning Miss Holt, good morning chief," answered the secretary.

Laura stopped at the secretary's desk, and began her routines peering within the mail. In the meantime, Mr. Steele went directly to his office, ready to start his business week being faithful to his beloved ones.

"I'll be right there with your tea in a minute, Boss," said Mildred.

"Did you have a chance to fill a file about our next client, Mildred?" asked Laura.

"It's on your desk, Miss Holt. There's not much there, honey. Miss Rydell was eager to fill you in on the blanks personally. I think she is an old fashioned lady, you know. Superiors only talks with superiors… Secretaries are there only to get the appointment settled…"

"I hope she won't mind to include me working on the case with my _superior_ then..."

At that very moment, Mr. Steele came from his office ready to claim his tea and heard the last part of the conversation. "If she doesn't want you on the case as my partner, then she can find another agency, Miss Holt. However, I don't think it will be the case. If our assignment has us placed at a school, and at a girl's school as I've just found in the files on your desk, your presence in our meeting will be very welcomed by her. Ladies' schools usually require lady teachers after all, and as I told you earlier, you are my favorite teacher of all, Laura." He ended his words smiling wickedly to Laura.

Mildred caught the flirtatious hint through Mr. Steele's words, and in a flash she had all her antennas working to find the gap in her boss' word's exchange.

Redoubling the bet, Laura answered him in a seductive voice, "Let me show you something about how I can be a really good teacher, Mr. Steele." She looked to the secretary then and told her, "We are going to be in my office studying the files, Mildred. Just call when Miss Rydell arrives." She left the mail on the secretary's desk, and caught Mr. Steele's arm, guiding him towards her _classroom._

"Do you still want your tea and newspaper in there chief?" asked Mildred.

Just when he was going to answer her, Laura took the hint and said, "No paper and no tea, Mildred. I like my students paying attention straight to the class topic. Distractions must stay away from my classroom. You can have your tea and paper later, during your break, Mr. Steele. Until then, I want your full attention on the matter at hand."

"I'll let you know once I'm able to correct this unfortunate misunderstanding, Mildred," he whispered to the secretary with an accomplish wink, while following his teacher to the _torture room_.

"I'll be waiting for your call chief…"

Right after they finished reading the short files, Mildred announced Miss Rydell's arrival. They received her in Mr. Steele's office as always, but this time Laura avoided sitting on Mr. Steele's desk. She decided to sit on a chair beside it. Not right beside him, but just in front of the client. If Miss Rydell was looking for a formal treatment from the agency; that was what she was going to receive.

After the formalities of the introduction, they took their places and the meeting began.

"What can the Remington Steele Agency do for you, Miss Rydell?" asked a very polite Mr. Steele.

"I decided to come to your agency, Mr. Steele, because there is a very complex and unlucky issue happening at my beloved School. I don't know if your secretary told you, but I am the director of one of the most recognized schools in the country: the Marlboro School. Our institution was founded in 1889, and since then the School is committed to delivering a superior college preparatory education in an environment imbued with high ethical values. Everyone working there is a very prepared professional, who not only cares about improving in the knowledge area, but also has that need as a superior path in life. Marlboro School provides a learning environment where young women develop self-confidence, creativity, a sense of responsibility, and moral decisiveness. The School's program encourages students to discover their potential, to think critically, and to develop intellectual curiosity. Students learn to set priorities, develop decision-making skills, and value the process of the educational experience. As a girls' school, we celebrate the importance of our long history and tradition of quality education for young women. We understand and address their needs, while exploring how societal roles of men and women are changing. We emphasize the process of personal growth, encourage cooperation, and foster close association among members of the community to promote emotional, intellectual, and physical well-being.

After listening to the magnificent introduction about Miss Rydell's beloved School, Laura was really sure that it was the perfect case for her. Almost every word that the old lady was saying felt like a balm to her ears. "That sounds wonderful, Miss Rydell. What is the unlucky issue that is worrying you?" she asked.

"Be patient, Miss Holt, that's one of the most valuable advices that you will get from an old educating lady."

Mr. Steele's eyes met with Miss Holt's for a brief moment after the old lady's words. They remained in silence, waiting for her to follow the speech.

After some more detailed explanation about her beloved institution, Miss Rydell finally arrived at the turning point. "We suspect that some of our Final Tests are being sold to the students," she finally said.

Trying to hide some of her disappointment after the trivial issue was on the table, Miss Holt asked, "Why do you suppose that's happening, Miss Rydell?"

"Because, my lady, we have some historical averages taken through our more than one hundred years of history, and suddenly this year, the current averages are out of our usual range. Almost every student from the last two years got excellent qualifications in their training tests, the ones that they take before the final one. That's very unusual. The qualifications at the trial tests use to be regular ones. Then the school staff starts the training focusing in the failed topics on those tests. We've just had our first round of tests two weeks ago, but we must resolve this problem before the Final Test season begins. You must comprehend that if that _exam's sale_ is real, and the issue becomes public, that would be the end for our Institution."

"You came to the right place, Miss Rydell," said Mr. Steele while straightening himself in his chair. "We should be able to start on your case as soon as you want us to." Laura was petrified because of the speed of Mr. Steele's decision. She couldn't even insert a word between his. It wasn't his usual behavior to be so eager to start working on a Monday morning, well he wasn't eager to start working any day as a matter of fact; besides, the topic of the case wasn't even one of his favorites.

"Urgent is my word choice for the current situation. Would you like to start today?"

"That will be perfect. We will need some information about your Institution. Our secretary will ask you some questions. We are already working on your case, Miss Rydell. Let me introduce you to our valuable collaborator, Miss Krebs. She will put all the information we need together to start with our detective work." He stood up, and showing the old woman the way to Mildred's desk with an elegant gesture, he followed her leaving a stupefied Laura, still sitting on her chair beside Mr. Steele's desk, immersed in her thoughts after the high speed of the events.

After a brief moment, he returned to his office, and noticing Laura's expression and stance, he was aware that a battle was just in front of them. He closed the door with extreme caution, just feeling on his back that the first bullet was ready to be shot.

"Why did you take the case? I assumed we would have a talk about it before giving her a response. Why do you always do that? There is no need to give an answer to the client just at the moment the explanation of the problem is finished." She was raising her voice dangerously as the words were leaving her mouth." Besides, the case doesn't seem strong enough for me to have a detective agency mixed in a world of female students and old fashioned teachers…"

"You are raising your voice, Laura. May I remind you the client is still talking with Mildred, right behind that door?"

"Who says that all the teachers are old fashioned ones, Laura?" said a very calm Mr. Steele.

"Miss Rydell has just given us an idea about the School...!"

"I saw you positively surprised about the ideals of her institution, all those words about values and how societal roles of men and women are changing…" he was slowly raising his voice as well, but he was giving her a lecture about the ideals she was always eager to defend, and trying to make her realize that the real opportunity to play a role to do something about that was finally in front of them.

"But how do you think we should work on the case? It's a girl's school! The last case we managed with only one girl involved in it was almost hell!"

"But, Miss Holt…The Gallen case was years ago, and we were taking care of a spoiled girl. This is different. And I have the perfect idea about how we should approach the case," he told her, wickedly smiling, showing her his intentions.

"What makes you think that school will not be full of spoiled girls? …Wait a minute! Don't you dare!" she threatened him. "I'm not going to play a teacher at a girl's school!" Her voice was really threatening…

"Not only a teacher, Miss Holt. You are going to play the role of a Math teacher; not only at a girl's school, but at one of the most famous schools of the country. Aren't you the one that is always boasting about Stanford, Math Majors, Calculus Professors and Milton's nerds? This is your chance to show me how professional and nerdy you can be, Miss Holt. I've found you a big classroom to follow your instruction until the bell rings and the break starts. Also, there is another fact that makes this case very convenient…"

She gave him a killing gaze waiting for him to continue.

"The school is located in a very lovely place near home: 250 South Rossmore Avenue, in the middle of Hancock Park. You can drive there every morning, without the need even to make a turn during the entire way. Sounds practical, don't you think?" He was slightly cynical at this point.

She was furious. This time he had gone too far; not only taking the case without even the briefest discussion about it between them, but making her go undercover playing a Math teacher in front of a classroom full of rich girls waiting for the opportunity to make her life miserable.

"You are going to pay for this!" she threatened him while trying to maintain some control over her voice volume.

"I'll have my checkbook ready. I know it will be worth the effort, believe me Laura." He closed the discussion with a wicked smile.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Miss Rydell told Mildred every little detail that the secretary felt would be useful for the case. After the file was full of relevant information, Mildred escorted the lady back to Mr. Steele's office, and they developed a plan to work inside the School. Once the strategies were settled the meeting was over. They would start working on the case with Miss Holt posing as a Math teacher in Multivariable Calculus and Differential Equations, starting on Wednesday. She would have to refresh her Math knowledge from Stanford very fast. At the same time, the School would have one day to adjust its staff, and incorporate her as a full time teacher at the institution without arousing suspicion. Nobody but Miss Rydell or Miss Green, the current Math teacher would know about the investigation.

The morning continued as usual, with Mr. Steele enjoying his routines in his office at last, and Miss Holt engrossed in paperwork duty. She would have to leave all the paperwork more than ready at the office, because the following Wednesday she would be staying all day at School. She was aware that Mildred was competent enough to have all her legwork done with efficiency, and also, she would have the ability to keep Mr. Steele attached to the office at least in the morning between his tea and lunch time. After a long time working in complete silence and concentration, Laura noticed that the connecting door was opening extremely cautiously. She lifted her eyes from the files without moving her head an inch from its current position. The door stopped, and a known hand holding a perfect red, brilliant and delicious apple appeared before her eyes. "What is that?" she asked, not being able to hide the smile in her voice.

A known head attached to a known body followed the apple. "Isn't the recommended practice that a good pupil very grateful, and totally in love with his teacher should bring her an apple to win her sympathy?"

"Well, that depends on how much trouble that pupil is in at the moment," she answered. "Maybe with just an apple he would get only a smile and a brief kiss. I think that for a more serious approach to solve his problems he should try with an entire lunch and maybe followed by an afternoon doing homework at her desk under her strict supervision… Just to feel the severity of the punishment after a huge fail working as a part of a team, you know…." she tried to sound severe…

"An afternoon doing homework at her desk…Working as a team…Perhaps I can manage that," he told her. "I like your taste for punishment, Miss Holt. But don't be abusive with your pupil, please."

"Just wait…" she answered him defiantly.

They left the office and decided to have lunch at the lovely bistro near Century City. Mr. Steele ordered for both of them as usual. He supposed that once out of the office, Laura would forget his behavior and they would have a relaxed time as always. But Miss Holt wasn't ready to show the white flag yet. They ate without distracting themselves with too much conversation, and when their dishes were empty, noticing he wasn't going to be able to improve Laura's mood, Mr. Steele said, "Maybe we can order our chocolate dessert and take it to the office. Am I allowed to share a piece of chocolate mousse cake with my teacher?"

"Ask for the cake Mr. Steele, and maybe we will enjoy it during the break if your qualifications make you deserve it," she answered, giving him a semi-serious gaze. "But don't think that with an apple and taking me to lunch to sweeten me with your glamorous speech, you will be out of trouble after your disappointing behavior earlier this morning."

"I don't think it could be in any another way, Miss Holt," he ended with a smile.

Back in the office, Laura instructed Mildred about which would be her new assignments while Mr. Steele _distracted_ himself with some of the paperwork Miss Holt gave him as the promised punishment. He wasn't feeling very enthusiastic seeing her so upset. Maybe he had gone too far with his need to push her into that situation. As the facts were happening, Laura was going to be working at the School the whole day, and after that she would have to share information with the rest of the Agency staff, and that meant to continue working, without counting that she also would have to prepare her classes, and correct the pupil's homework. It was a lot of work, and it was reasonable that she felt worried. Adding her usual anxiety to the equation was the last step towards a very stressful time. In a couple of days she would feel exhausted. And he wouldn't have the chance to help her in any of those tasks.

After a couple of hours, Mildred arrived to Miss Holt's office carrying a tray with some coffee and the tempting dessert. They made a stop to recharge batteries, and after that Miss Holt decided to make a visit to the School. Mildred called Miss Rydell to announce the plan, and after a brief discussion with Mr. Steele, Laura left him at the office continuing with his boring task. She didn't want him near the Institution. Some old experience told her that once Mr. Steele set foot there, a sudden uproar between the schoolgirls was expected for sure, and that was the last thing she needed at the moment.

Fred drove her to the loft, and after changing her business clothes for something more accurate for a teacher's attire, she headed to her destination driving the Rabbit.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Miss Rydell's secretary was waiting for Laura at the institution's entrance. She guided the new teacher to the Director's office through the main building of the school. The library, the Physics Lab, the Assembly Hall, and the Teacher's Room appeared during the tour. Once they arrived to her destination, she found Miss Rydell waiting for her with some of the material to start her teaching job. They talked about some extracurricular activities in which Laura would have to participate while being the substitute Math teacher. The School maintained an old tradition, and had its students divided into four Houses. There were a series of competitions and activities adding points for each House. Laura was supposed to be a representative of the Red House Team in the sports area. She would have to compete with the Swimming Team, the Running Team or the Tennis Team. There were some activities scheduled on the campus for this Friday, and she should be ready to jump into any competition in which her team would need her.

After making a detailed tour through all the buildings of the School, Miss Holt left the place with her materials to start working, and a list with the names of her future pupils.

Laura arrived at the loft when the sun began to descend. She went there to pick up some different attire she would need for her new case. She was feeling very tired, and once inside, the first thing she did was take her shoes off. After that she put some water on the stove to make some tea, and decided to call Mr. Steele. She dialed the Rossmore telephone number but nobody answered the call there. Then she dialed the office. After only one ring, he answered with a very tired voice. "Remington Steele Investigations…"

"Mr. Steele! What are you doing still at the office?" asked a worried Laura.

"Hello Miss Holt. I am still here because when you left the place this afternoon, you told me to stay here doing paperwork and practice being in charge of the agency while you were out working on this case that my insanity put you in. As I don't want more misunderstandings, I obeyed the order and stayed here working on the task you gave me. I think I've finished with most of the paperwork, Laura. Would that be enough for me to deserve a break and have dinner with you?"

"You did almost all the paperwork?" She left him with a huge pile of files, but never expected he would finish them in only one day. "I think you might deserve a break, Mr. Steele. What do you think if we meet at Rossmore in about an hour and a half? Or maybe if you are tired you would prefer to go out for dinner. What do you say?"

"At Rossmore would be good, Laura. Maybe I should get some Chinese food on the way. Is that ok?

"Let me go for the Chinese. See you there in an hour then. Love you."

"See you there. Love you too."

They were sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace. Laura looked absent while they were eating their meals directly from the food boxes. "Penny for your thoughts, Laura?" he asked her.

"Eh, oh…sorry, I was thinking."

"Thinking about what?"

"I was thinking about this case, about me trying to teach in front of an entire classroom. I don't know if I will be capable of doing that…teaching, I mean."

He left his food on the table, took her hand in his, and after patting it twice he told her, "I have no doubts you'll be capable. You have the greatest teacher hidden inside you, Miss Holt. To the evidence I refer. You started to be a teacher five years ago, when I stole Remington Steele's shoes. You taught me how to be a private investigator, how to be a responsible man, how to be able to wait with patience for the greatest things in life, how significant is the effort to achieve the most important goals , how important it is to learn to share everything with the one you love…" She was staring at their hands until he stopped after his last words. Then, when she looked up to his eyes he continued, "You taught me how to love, Laura. If somebody who has those kinds of results in her history is not a teacher, then I don't know who can be."

She was still staring at him. "All those things you were referring to, they don't count. You knew how to love before you knew me. It was one thing you knew from the beginning, and you helped _me_ to learn it from you," she said.

"Perhaps you are right, but don't tell me that you didn't help me to develop that feeling into what it is today. You are the one that taught me to make me committed to who I am today, Laura."

"Well, it wasn't my capacity to teach what made you who you are now. It was your ability to learn what counted. I don't think teaching at a girl's school will be remotely similar."

"I am faithful you will succeed with these girls, Miss Holt. In any case, you'll be there only for a short time. Any damage in those girls educating schedule will be entirely solved by their real teacher once our case is over. And I presume that with you working as the leader in it, we'll have it closed earlier than we think. Don't worry, Laura."

She looked him and smiled. "I'll try not to worry so much." And after sighing she told him, "Maybe some distraction would put my mind out of the case. Why don't you choose a movie? I think that will work," she told him.

"What are you in the mood to watch?" he asked.

"Something light, maybe you can play a comedy…"

"Am I forgiven because of my behavior at the office, or will this be a continuation of my punishment, being able to sit beside you to watch a movie, but not having the chance to enjoy another kind of pleasurable activity in the meantime?"

"I think your punishment is suspended for the evening, Mr. Steele. But don't think I will not remember to resume it in the future."

"Let's enjoy the night then, Miss Holt." He sat down, and putting his arm on her shoulders, he was ready to begin his favorite activity with his most desirable woman beside him.

"Let's enjoy the night, Mr. Steele," she answered him while cuddling in his arms.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The clock buzzer began to sound when the sun was still out of the picture. Laura turned it off, and after a couple of blinks she stood up from the bed and began her daily routines. Mr. Steele was still sleeping, and she didn't want to bother him waking him up that early. She silently walked to the kitchen looking for some needed coffee, and instead of a lonely coffee from the coffee maker she found a full tray waiting for her with everything ready for breakfast. She smiled gladly surprised, because she had never felt him leaving the bed. But he definitely owned a thief's ability; one that allowed him to do his secret tasks with extreme efficiency without the others ever noticing him. She took the tray with a smile plastered on her face, and went to the dining room. Her math books and notebooks were already on the table waiting for her.

She opened the upper book, and started to make notes for her first class. Grabbing the class list in her hands some time later, she decided that as she wasn't going to have enough time to identify each girl by her name, it would be smart to separate the class into five groups, each one of them with five girls. In that way, she would be able to associate the girl's faces in her mind in five groups, which would be easier than 25 faces all together. She thought that way would be the best to remember them. When she had a great part of her first class developed, a known arm came around her waist and pulled her backwards a few inches. After kissing him on his cheek, she welcomed him, "Good morning!"

"Good morning, Miss Holt. How did this beautiful teacher wake up? Did she find something edible to have a decent breakfast?"

"I found a tray with a cup of steaming coffee, and a delicious combination of fruit, toast and cheese, ready to be enjoyed easily while reading. I'm afraid I didn't realize how hungry I was. I ate almost everything while working. Thank you. May I offer you some coffee? That I can manage…"

"I'd like some. Let's look for something edible for me to go with the coffee."

Laura took a break, and while Mr. Steele was eating his portion of fruits, toast and cheese, joined with a succulent serving of eggs and bacon, they enjoyed some early chat before duty called. Then Mr. Steele had a shower, while she finished with her notes and changed to be ready to start her last work day at the office.

They were in the limo, each one in the middle of their own thoughts about their own next week and the novelties that it would carry for them. Laura, in full business mode, was the first one to speak, "You'll have to be at the office until the late afternoon. I'll be home right after my day at school is over."

"What time would that be?" he asked.

"Classes end at four o'clock, so I guess I will be at home around five to get my following class ready. We should fill ourselves with the news of the day at dinner."

"You will be exhausted," he told her in a guilty tone.

"Maybe, but as you said before, this case should be closed easily. I hope to be able to manage my assignment in the way it is needed, Mr. Steele."

"I have no doubt about your efficiency, Laura," he told her without taking his eyes from the window.

"Why are you worried then?"

"Because what I don't know is if Iwould be able to manage mine without you." He looked at her with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

"We'll resume our paperwork classes as soon as we can, Mr. Steele. Don't worry about that, you'll do it right." She patted his thigh in a reassuring gesture.

"I'll miss our classes," he told her.

"Don't miss them so much, Mr. Steele. Remember that you have to resume your punishment…"

"Is it a promise?"

She smiled and answered, "It's a promise. We have a paperwork date at my office after this case is closed."

"You are taking this teacher thing very seriously, Laura."

"Well, as I remember you encouraged me last night to be in character for my new assignment. Don't tell me you are regretting what you've done last night, Mr. Steele."

"I would never regret what I did last night, Laura. Perhaps if I would have noticed before, that you being in character like a teacher was going to be such fun, I would have asked you to do it earlier…" he ended looking at her and finally winking an eye. "But maybe you could make an exception and forget your favorite pupil's punishment…"

"I'll think about that…"

"No more paperwork punishment on our dates then?" he asked showing some relief.

"I bet you would like that…" she told him giving him a special gaze.

"I bet you will like that too, Miss Holt," he assured her kissing her hand.

"Good morning Mildred"

"Good morning Miss Holt, ready to spend your last quiet day at the office?"

"Ah, ah, ah, Mildred. Don't speak as if Miss Holt will never return to the agency! She is only taking a couple of days off, trying to contribute with those girls education in a modern and smart way. She will be back before we could miss her…" said Mr. Steele.

"You two will have no time to notice that I am not here," said Laura.

"Come on honey, we'll miss you from the early hours in the morning, until the late afternoon, when you use to put the signed files on my desk, closing our work day. The office will not be the same without you," said a sad Mildred.

"You will not have time to notice my absence as the day goes on, Mildred. You will have to watch after Mr. Steele among your other responsibilities. You know…the thought of being without his partner in this office seems to be punching him down the belt line," said Laura giving a look of pity at Mr. Steele.

Mr. Steele was trying to escape from the conversation. He didn't like the feeling of the office without Laura there. It wasn't the same fun working there without the possibility to steal a gaze and a kiss from her, making the work day at least less long. He would have to improve in his ability to be there the whole day without her. He was very deep in these thoughts when Detective Jarvis poked his head through the agency doors. "Mr. Steele, Miss Holt, good to find you both here!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 3

Miss Rydell told Mildred every little detail that the secretary felt would be useful for the case. After the file was full of relevant information, Mildred escorted the lady back to Mr. Steele's office, and they developed a plan to work inside the School. Once the strategies were settled the meeting was over. They would start working on the case with Miss Holt posing as a Math teacher in Multivariable Calculus and Differential Equations, starting on Wednesday. She would have to refresh her Math knowledge from Stanford very fast. At the same time, the School would have one day to adjust its staff, and incorporate her as a full time teacher at the institution without arousing suspicion. Nobody but Miss Rydell or Miss Green, the current Math teacher would know about the investigation.

The morning continued as usual, with Mr. Steele enjoying his routines in his office at last, and Miss Holt engrossed in paperwork duty. She would have to leave all the paperwork more than ready at the office, because the following Wednesday she would be staying all day at School. She was aware that Mildred was competent enough to have all her legwork done with efficiency, and also, she would have the ability to keep Mr. Steele attached to the office at least in the morning between his tea and lunch time. After a long time working in complete silence and concentration, Laura noticed that the connecting door was opening extremely cautiously. She lifted her eyes from the files without moving her head an inch from its current position. The door stopped, and a known hand holding a perfect red, brilliant and delicious apple appeared before her eyes. "What is that?" she asked, not being able to hide the smile in her voice.

A known head attached to a known body followed the apple. "Isn't the recommended practice that a good pupil very grateful, and totally in love with his teacher should bring her an apple to win her sympathy?"

"Well, that depends on how much trouble that pupil is in at the moment," she answered. "Maybe with just an apple he would get only a smile and a brief kiss. I think that for a more serious approach to solve his problems he should try with an entire lunch and maybe followed by an afternoon doing homework at her desk under her strict supervision… Just to feel the severity of the punishment after a huge fail working as a part of a team, you know…." she tried to sound severe…

"An afternoon doing homework at her desk…Working as a team…Perhaps I can manage that," he told her. "I like your taste for punishment, Miss Holt. But don't be abusive with your pupil, please."

"Just wait…" she answered him defiantly.

They left the office and decided to have lunch at the lovely bistro near Century City. Mr. Steele ordered for both of them as usual. He supposed that once out of the office, Laura would forget his behavior and they would have a relaxed time as always. But Miss Holt wasn't ready to show the white flag yet. They ate without distracting themselves with too much conversation, and when their dishes were empty, noticing he wasn't going to be able to improve Laura's mood, Mr. Steele said, "Maybe we can order our chocolate dessert and take it to the office. Am I allowed to share a piece of chocolate mousse cake with my teacher?"

"Ask for the cake Mr. Steele, and maybe we will enjoy it during the break if your qualifications make you deserve it," she answered, giving him a semi-serious gaze. "But don't think that with an apple and taking me to lunch to sweeten me with your glamorous speech, you will be out of trouble after your disappointing behavior earlier this morning."

"I don't think it could be in any another way, Miss Holt," he ended with a smile.

Back in the office, Laura instructed Mildred about which would be her new assignments while Mr. Steele _distracted_ himself with some of the paperwork Miss Holt gave him as the promised punishment. He wasn't feeling very enthusiastic seeing her so upset. Maybe he had gone too far with his need to push her into that situation. As the facts were happening, Laura was going to be working at the School the whole day, and after that she would have to share information with the rest of the Agency staff, and that meant to continue working, without counting that she also would have to prepare her classes, and correct the pupil's homework. It was a lot of work, and it was reasonable that she felt worried. Adding her usual anxiety to the equation was the last step towards a very stressful time. In a couple of days she would feel exhausted. And he wouldn't have the chance to help her in any of those tasks.

After a couple of hours, Mildred arrived to Miss Holt's office carrying a tray with some coffee and the tempting dessert. They made a stop to recharge batteries, and after that Miss Holt decided to make a visit to the School. Mildred called Miss Rydell to announce the plan, and after a brief discussion with Mr. Steele, Laura left him at the office continuing with his boring task. She didn't want him near the Institution. Some old experience told her that once Mr. Steele set foot there, a sudden uproar between the schoolgirls was expected for sure, and that was the last thing she needed at the moment.

Fred drove her to the loft, and after changing her business clothes for something more accurate for a teacher's attire, she headed to her destination driving the Rabbit.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

After a brief lunch, they finished their current issues at the office and left the building to pursue their own assignments. Laura drove to the school, and Mr. Steele made his trip to the Police Station in the limo and descended on Detective Jarvis' office. He met there with the lieutenant, who showed him to his desk, where they would meet the rest of the agents who were going to help him with anything he would need in the operation.

Everybody shook hands, and showing him a desk full of papers in complete disorder, Detective Jarvis told him, "Those are the files about the case, Mr. Steele. You can take a look and after that we should talk about the next steps of the operation."

Mr. Steele took off his coat, and rolled up his sleeves, trying to blend with the environment and go unnoticed. He sat at the desk and started with his task. An hour later he was done with every file. "Do you mind if I come with Mildred tomorrow, Jarvis? I think there are a couple of details here that she would be able to disentangle for me after starting my field work."

"Of course, Steele. I should be here at 8:00am. Just call to be sure to find me."

"Be sure we'll be here around 10am. I don't want to make you arrive at some unreasonable hour just to receive us, Jarvis."

Laura met with Miss Rydell, and they went to the classroom where Miss Holt would have her teaching done, and after giving a quick look to the place, she left some of her things there. Then they went to the History classroom, where the students were at the moment. Miss Rydell opened the door and went into the room, followed by Miss Holt. The History teacher was writing on the blackboard, and she noticed the director was there when she heard her students standing up. She turned and greeted the two ladies with a gesture. "Good afternoon pupils. As you should know by now, Miss Green is not going to be able to come to the institution for a couple of months. Miss Holt will replace her. I'm sure everyone will welcome her in the correct way and follow her instruction by the institution rules." With that, she made a gesture to Laura to make her own introduction. "Good afternoon girls; my name is Laura Holt and I will be your math teacher in Multivariable Calculus and Differential Equations. I'm very glad to have the opportunity to be here, in one of the most traditional institutions of the state. We will follow the same program Miss Green was teaching, and I'll be in my classroom the whole day, ready to answer any questions that you may have. See you tomorrow girls."

"See you tomorrow Miss Holt," was the classroom salutation while the director and the new teacher were leaving the place.

Once in the corridor, Miss Rydell told her, "You are already in, Miss Holt. Don't hesitate to ask anything you need. I'm usually in my office, but if you don't find me there, ask my secretary. I won't be far. This school is my life, and I spend the entire day here. It feels like home."

"I'll ask if I need anything, Miss Rydell. Thank you." With that they finished their conversation, and a while later Laura went to her classroom to give a more detailed look at the place. She prepared her notes, and wrote some exercises on the rolling blackboard, getting things ready for the next day. After everything was done, she put her material in the class locker and closed it. Her day was over.

They met to have dinner at Rossmore, as was usual since some months ago. Even though she continued to lease the loft, Laura wasn't living there anymore. She was living with him at his place, _their place_ , as he would call it; but she still had that hidden thought in the back of her mind. She needed to keep a sort of sensation that she wasn't giving up all her own world because of their relationship. She needed to put her feet in the loft from time to time. Besides, Rossmore wasn't big enough to receive all her stuff, and the closets were critically full with his own distinguished wardrobe. Well, even if she would have to make a selection of her own things to move, there was a special item that alone meant a big challenge…her beloved piano. She wasn't ready to stock it in storage yet, and keeping the loft was the only other option at hand at the moment. She would run once or twice a week to her old place with the excuse of looking for some things as she was in need of them, and maybe enjoy the opportunity to play something on the piano. But the truly important thing was that all her belongings were slowly migrating to Rossmore, and never returning to the loft. Instead of still having some discussions about their own private spaces, they were managing things acceptably, and they were successfully rehearsing playing as an established couple. Her family knew they were committed, and even keeping the situation as discreet as possible in benefit of their work, Laura was beginning to allow their commitment to see the public light.

It was a beautiful night with no breeze, warmer than a usual February one, and Mr. Steele decided that he wasn't going to waste the opportunity. They would enjoy their dinner outside on the balcony. The table was ready, candles softly lighting the open space, and he was putting the last touches on his creation. It was a new recipe, but he was sure it was going to be the right one for this special night. It was in his nature to try to always find a special event of the day, and reflex it at dinner, with a special invitation or a dazzling creation. He had never liked monotony, and surprising her with those little things was the way to keep some of the magic still through the night. She had never liked monotony either, so, each one of his attempts was received with pleasure, and reassured with creativity. They always finished playing the same delighting tag, but it was really fun to participate in the creative process until arriving at the finish line.

She arrived as on cue, when the work at the kitchen was almost done, the music softening the evening after a hard day's work. "Hello," she said opening the door. The smell was so… fabulous…She followed it to the kitchen where she found him turning off the stove and having a sip of wine. Another glass was besides his, waiting for her. "I don't know how you create those aromas. It smells divine!"

"Hello Miss Holt." He made a few steps toward her. "I have an adorable muse who keeps my cooking inspiration flowing. I've made this for her. Perhaps you have seen her… She always welcomes our time together with a very special kiss… She said she would arrive around this time…"

She took the hint and after leaving her purse and coat on the counter, put her arms around his neck and told him, "I think your muse has just arrived, Mr. Steele. Try not to disappoint her…"

"I'm trying so hard on it, that I'm even doing paperwork, Laura. Do you think she is aware of my big efforts?"

"I think she is totally aware, Mr. Steele." She kissed him making him aware that he wasn't going to disappoint her ever with his charming attempts.

After the perfect welcome, they carried their dishes and glasses outside, and the romantic dinner was on.

"Mmm, it tastes like heaven. What is it?" asked Laura.

"It's Mole with chicken. It's an ancient Mexican recipe that includes some kind of…elixir of the gods in the sauce…"

"Elixir of the gods? That sounds like…"

"…Chocolate," he quickly answered showing her a wicked smile.

"I knew you were good, but this is sublime," she told him, closing her eyes to raise the sensations to an upper level.

"Wait to see what my muse inspired me for dessert, Miss Holt…"


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Laura arrived at Marlboro School early the next morning. It was her first day there, and she wanted to be sure to have everything ready to start her class, which was settled to the first hour in the schedule. The pupils began to arrive, and everybody was sitting at their place and getting things ready when the bell rang.

"Good morning girls. We met yesterday, but as today is my first official day here, I'll introduce myself again just in case. I'm Laura Holt, and I'll be your math teacher until Miss Green's return. Since all of you just know my name, I would like to know yours. "

She read the roll, and every girl stood up after being named. When everybody's name was said, Laura followed with the explanation about her group idea and how they would work in her classroom. The pupils liked the idea, and in minutes they were eagerly working on the exercises that Miss Holt wrote on the blackboard the day before.

The class ran with ease. After the bell rang, there was a group of girls that remained there enthusiastically talking. Laura didn't want to push them away, so she stayed at her desk listening to their conversation, but pretending to be doing some corrections on the girls' exercises. They were speaking about a party that they would attend the next weekend, and what should be the perfect attire to wear. They were all very active in the conversation, but there was one girl that wasn't talking as much as the others. Laura remembered that she had introduced herself as June. She gave a look to the list searching for her last name. June Patterson. She decided to go on paying attention to the conversation. Another of the girls, Elizabeth as she remembered, seemed to be the leader. She was talking about her boyfriend, who seemed to be a basketball player, the star of his school team. She was telling them that this would be one of the last parties they would go to together, because he had been accepted to Stanford for the next season with a scholarship because of his basketball talents. Once one of the girls realized that it was getting late and that their next class was soon to start, they left the room in a hurry after greeting Miss Holt.

Laura decided that it would be useful to start investigating these girls, just because she had a good glimpse about them while snooping in their conversation and she had names and faces already attached in her mind. She reviewed their qualifications, and decided to ask Miss Rydell for their files.

In the meantime, Mr. Steele was ready to start with his mission. He arrived at the office to be sure that everything was going to be fine at the place during their absence.

Mildred didn't tell him, but she had gotten a replacement for the day. She didn't like the feeling about leaving the office unattended. She was sure that Mr. Steele was going to receive it with pleasure, and since Miss Holt wasn't going to be around the office for the whole day, it was a safe move. Marvin Slottman, Mr. Steele's recent intern and her new surrogate nephew would be in charge for the day.

"Morning, morning, morning…" said Mr. Steele without taking his eyes from his office door.

"Good morning chief," answered the secretary.

Just noticing sideways that there was somebody else standing beside Mildred, he stopped in his tracks. "Marvin! Nice to see you my boy! What unusual fact brings you here so early this morning? I'm afraid that perhaps you came on the wrong day, my boy Mildred and I are working on a case, and we are just leaving," he said.

It was then that Mildred noticed a suspicious change in his gestures, his face turning from a farewell situation to a welcome one. She decided to remain in silence, while letting her boss feel that he was the one having the great idea. She enjoyed doing this kind of thing with him, because Miss Holt was absent and she needed to spoil him a bit more than usual. It felt good.

"Marvin, my boy; …do you by any chance have the day free today? We seem to be, we seem to be in need of… some adequate help at the office, and since you have been one of our most valuable cooperators in the near past, maybe you could give us a hand…"

"I'm here ready to help you Mr. Steele." After saying that, he opened his notebook pad and looked at Mr. Steele ready to write any order coming out from his mouth _._

"No, no, no Marvin. Close your notebook pad, my boy. Our task for you today will be to cover us, Mildred and me, while we are out working on a case. You should answer the phone, and be sure that if an important client arrives, he would want to return to the Remington Steele Agency in the future. Are you capable to manage that Marvin?"

"I'm always ready to be of any assistance to Remington Steele Investigations as the chance presents itself, sir." He ended his answer with a satisfied smile.

Noticing that everything was settled, Mr. Steele gestured towards Mildred to leave the place. "Splendid Marvin, I see we are talking the same language. See you later my boy." In a flash they were on their way to Detective Jarvis' office, and Mr. Slottman was the front face of the agency.

They were advancing with the files Mr. Steele wanted Mildred to revise. She had discovered some interesting information that she would need to explore in depth back at the office. She found that the enterprise where the investments were flowing was settled in the Cayman Islands, a fact that almost always meant that there was something dark between its numbers. R.I.F. was the name of the company receiving the money.

Sometime around lunch time, the phone rang at the office. "Remington Steele Investigations, what can I do for you?" asked a very executive and well trained Marvin.

"Excuse me, who is it?" asked Laura.

"It's Marvin Slottman, Miss Holt. Nice to hear your voice again…"

"Oh hello Marvin, I'm sorry, nice to hear your voice too. Excuse me, but…what are you doing at the agency? Where is Mildred?" asked a confused Laura.

"Miss Holt, I supposed you were aware…Miss Krebs is out with the boss doing some kind of research at the Police Station. I thought you would know. I am in charge of the agency until their return," answered a very proud and satisfied Mr. Slottman.

"…In charge of the agency until their return…" repeated a shocked Miss Holt, "Marvin, please don't tell Mr. Steele that I called. It's not important."

"Of course Miss Holt, anything else I can do for you?"

"That's all Marvin, thank you. Nice to hear your voice again. Bye," said Laura. She put the handset on the cradle, and still looking at it she whispered…"That man…He is always so…resourceful…" She left Miss Rydell's secretary's office with a resigned smile on her face… She was certainly enjoying the moment, but as soon as she was able to recover from the surprise, she decided a serious talk was in order later in the evening.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

As the task at Detective Jarvis' office was cleared in less time than he supposed, Mr. Steele decided to invite Mildred for lunch, just to demonstrate to her that he was feeling they were working as a real team in Miss Holt's absence. He loved to spoil her as well as she loved to spoil him. Besides, it would be useful to have her completely on his side when Laura's outburst would see the day's light, if she found out that Marvin spent the day in control of the agency.

"Oh, boss, thank you for your invitation, but you didn't have to…You know…. This place is really wonderful! The whole menu is a delight. I really don't know what to choose…"

Rehearsing his usual routine, he grabbed the menu from Mildred's hands and told her, "Allow me, Mildred. I know exactly what to order here."

Mildred found herself smiling, appreciating the adorable situation; she and her boss having lunch after a morning working together outside the office…Maybe she should reconsider seriously about applying to get a private detective license. It would be useful at the office, but it would allow her to have some glimpses about her boss and Miss Holt's work life out of the office as well.

"What do you think is happening in Detective Jarvis' case, Mildred?" asked Mr. Steele trying to focus them again on the case.

"Maybe someone is trying to hide some money, making it travel around the world through several non-existing companies. It's the way dirty money finds a way to be washed and injected again into the legal market. After several commercial operations sometimes you are not able to track the money to its destination anymore."

"Mmm, that would make sense. We only have to be sure that Mr. Bell's money is the one injected to run in that circuit, and that his wife is the one who pushed him to do it. Sounds easy…Where should we start?" he asked her.

"We could try to find this Cayman Society statute, which would be very difficult, almost impossible by the way; I think it would be easier to try to trace the money trail… "

He was beginning to enjoy this case. Mildred was swimming like a fish in the water, and he was getting trapped in the mystery… Besides, if they disentangled this mystery fast, he would be able to _help_ in Laura's. He was eager to do that. "And how do we do that? I'm all ears, Mildred," he told her interlacing his fingers on the table and changing position in his chair looking totally interested.

But Mildred didn't want to spend the whole lunch talking about the case. She wanted to enjoy her unscheduled escapade. "Let's enjoy our lunch, boss. I'll show you at the office…"

Once at the office, Mildred started to type, making magic with her computer, and the printer started to deliver the white bunnies. Mr. Steele was at his office developing future strategies with Marvin. What kind of strategies? Well not the ones Miss Holt would love to hear about.

"Are you sure you have the time to do this, Marvin?"

"I already told you I was free to be at your service, Mr. Steele. I'm waiting for your next order, sir."

"Come here, Marvin. Let me explain my plan to you. But you have to assure me that this mission will be totally secret, just between you and me, my boy; a gentlemen's secret deal."

"My lips are sealed, sir"

"I need you in an undercover mission to be Miss Holt's secret backup."

"But I thought Miss Holt was working on another case, sir."

"She is indeed, my boy. But having her working alone on that case, having all the duty on her shoulders while I am here having the chance to work with both of you, such capable and trained resources, …it seems so unfair."

"I understand your point, Mr. Steele. What should I do?"

"Let me tell you my plan…"

Laura was finishing her first day as a teacher at the Marlboro School. It didn't turn into the hell she was expecting, but even after an usual teacher's routine day she was feeling really tired. She had spent the day trying to figure out something about the girls she listened to after class, searching for anything in their records, but they were all clean. Very good pupils, never a warning, perfect behavior, enthusiastic sport team members. There was nothing unusual at all. The next day she would make another try with the school account files she had asked of Miss Rydell. Money was one of the usual hidden motives behind an illegal situation.

She had all the girls' work revised, and part of her next class developed with the exercises written on the blackboard, as the day before. Once at home she would have to resume the study about the new topic she was ready to explain the next day. It wasn't that she didn't have it ready; but she had the need to be sure that nothing would be out of her control. Besides, there was something else to be attended to at home that night; another kind of teaching. She would have to give a lesson to her resourceful partner. And she wanted to plan it with the extreme dedication the matters deserve … as the best teacher in the world would do it.

Mildred was still waiting for some of the information beside the printer. She decided that the wait was too long, and that maybe some coffee was a good idea. She was going to ask Mr. Steele if he wanted some when she opened the door and found both male characters, one in front of the other on both sides of Mr. Steele's desk, not talking but whispering. They stopped speaking when she appeared, showing her they were hiding something. That didn't smell well, she thought. She followed her instincts and asked, "Do either of you want some coffee?"

"Please, Mildred, be an angel," answered Mr. Steele. They remained in silence until the secretary was gone, and once they were sure she wasn't listening anymore, they followed with their conversation.

"Your mission starts tomorrow, Marvin. Is everything clear, my boy?"

"Crystal clear, sir," was his response

Mildred returned as fast as she could with the coffee tray, but she realized she was too late. She missed the entire thing, and she had the feeling that it wasn't good. It was always a problem at the door when Mr. Steele was hiding things. And with Miss Holt outside the office this would turn out in a disaster. She would have to take the reins in her hands. A night developing a plan was in order.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Laura was relaxing in the tub, thinking about the last details of her plan when Mr. Steele arrived home. He went directly to the kitchen to leave the ingredients for their next meal, and didn't notice she was already there. It wasn't early, so he decided to begin with the cooking. He was absorbed in the task when raising his eyes from the food he saw her leaning on the kitchen door frame.

"Hello Mr. Steele," she said.

He stared at her and caught a hint of seduction in her voice _and_ in her attitude. Leaving the knife on the counter, he dried his hands with the dishtowel, and went to give her a proper welcome. "Hello… I didn't realize you were already here," he said embracing her.

"I finished my business at school, so there was no point staying there. I decided to come home and enjoy some quiet moments in the tub."

"I would have loved to be here to share those moments with you…" he answered seductively.

She put her arms around his neck and told him, "I suspect that if we would have shared those moments, they wouldn't have been as quiet as I needed them."

"You are cutting me to the quick, Laura. I can be as quiet as you want me…"

"I bet you can…" she told him dryly, and getting out of his arms she went to the refrigerator to pour herself a glass of water.

Noticing her sudden mood change he decided to change the topic as well. "How was your first day at school, Miss Holt?"

She sat down on the counter and crossed her legs leaving a long portion of one of her thighs free from her terry robe. His eyes and mind were not on the food anymore, just as she had planned. "It was an ordinary teacher's day. Exercises, notes, planning my class for tomorrow mostly…" she told him feigning indifference. "How about yours?"

"Ordinary detective's day. Office, Mildred, Jarvis…"

"Did you find anything at the Police Station?" she changed position and re crossed her legs. Now both of her thighs were very much in sight.

"Eh …I think we are working on the right way with Mildred. She found some information at the office that could be very useful."

"So your day was a pure routine one…" she commented. He was not confessing yet, but she wasn't going to give up.

"A pure routine one…" he said having a sip of wine while trying to control his instincts.

"Is there something you are not telling me?" she asked bending her head and giving him an intrigued glare.

"Whatever gave you that idea?" But then he was intrigued about why was she asking that…Maybe she was onto something …"Is there something you are not telling me?" he stopped…"I 'm sounding like I'm repeating myself…"

That was the cue she was waiting for…"Are you repeating yourself, _Mr. Steele_?" she was beginning to show a little annoyance at this moment. "Why was Marvin in charge at the office this morning? He doesn't work for the agency, I thought we have settled that clear after the Platinum case was over… No more interns at the office; no more unilateral decisions. Don't tell me you hired him again…" she was standing in front of him now, looking definitely upset.

"I didn't hire him again, Laura." He quickly answered then. The next escaping phrase slipped from his mouth, "Mildred did."

" _Mildred is hiring employees without consulting me?_ I can't believe she is doing that Mr. Steele. Weak excuse."

"Well…, maybe hiring is not the correct word in this case. Perhaps that she _convinced_ him to collaborate would be more accurate."

"And how would that be possible, Mr. Steele?"

"You know Mildred developed a special affection for Marvin during the Platinum case. It seems that she asked him this morning to be at the office for the day as a favor."

"She asked him to be there for one day just as a favor? Doesn't she know that's dangerous? Our insurance policies wouldn't cover us in any contingency! Doesn't she know that?"

"You should ask her! She said she didn't want to leave the office unattended, and I didn't question her. You almost always leave her in charge of the office, even in charge of me, if I am correct," He said with a hint of irony. "Why is that you still don't trust me, Laura?"

"I trust you! But why is that every time I turn my head you try to change things that are already established?"

"You should stop trying to have everything under your control, Laura. We are a team, remember? And Mildred is a part of it as well as we are."

"But teams work together towards the same goal, Mr. Steele. We are supposed to behave in a professional way. I really think that acting with that carelessness would be anything but professional, don't you think?"

"We are a team working together, Laura. The fact that we are busy in different cases at the same time just shows how able we are to trust in each other's professionalism. I trust in you, and you trust in us. That's the idea…"

She stayed rubbing her brow in silence for an instant, letting his words sink, and after a sigh she told him, "We will have a talk with her. Although I know she did it with the best intention, we have to respect some rules because of the Agency's well being. "

"Don't be hard with her, Laura. You know she did it trying to help." He didn't know how to soften things a little for the innocent Mildred.

"I'll try." she said leaving the kitchen.

He released a deep breath. He should have some words with Mildred first in the morning; to explain to her the kind of lecture from Miss Holt was ahead of them. There was another issue to resolve as well. From now on he should meet his undercover subordinate far from the office and from Laura's instincts. Because he wasn't ready to get rid of him. Yet.

They had dinner without having too much conversation. She was still upset, and he didn't want to open his mouth more than necessary. After everything was cleaned up, Laura remained in the dining room with all her school materials preparing her new class until late in the evening. When she finally went to bed, Mr. Steele was fast asleep.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Thursday was a different day for Laura. A new topic was on her agenda. It was the first time of her life teaching math to a full classroom. She was nervous. It seemed pretty similar to the situation of explaining the solution of a case to the clients, but it was extremely different. Closing a case meant to stop working on it. No more time working with these clients, and case closed, preferably solved. But teaching was an indefinite challenge. She should explain the topic, the pupils would learn it, but then it wasn't a closed case. She should tie this topic to the following one, keeping the interest of the pupils, and most of all, keeping her own interest. An uninterested teacher was a fail, and Laura Holt hated to fail in anything. It was a real challenge.

She arrived at school early again, and Miss Rydell was expecting her with all the information Miss Holt had asked her the day before. Laura put the manila folder in the locker in her classroom, beside her belongings. She would have some time later to study the files, after her class.

The bell was ringing and a new school day was ready to start.

Laura had left Rossmore very early in the morning, not bothering to wake up Mr. Steele even to give him a good bye kiss. She was still upset with the situation at the office, and as it wasn't clear how things had developed to arrive into it, Mr. Steele was suspected as guilty as Mildred at the moment.

He woke up alone with a sour flavor in his mouth. Dinner didn't work as he had expected and his stomach and head were paying the price.

He arrived at the office at his old usual time. Laura was the one keeping him into an early routine, and without her working beside him, or even sharing breakfast together, the attraction in arriving early to work had vanished.

"Good morning Mildred…Can I see you in my office, please?"

"Good morning boss, sure…"

She arrived to his place carrying his tea and newspaper. "What do you need, chief?"

"Eh… Mildred, sit down, please. You know yesterday we certainly had a pleasurable day working together at the Police Station. And after that we enjoyed a well deserved lunch while developing strategies for our current case…"

"I know, boss. We had a great time."

"And you remember me taking advantage of Marvin being here and leaving him in charge of the agency, allowing us to put our efforts right in the core of our case, do you?"

"I remember that, Mr. Steele. It was only yesterday after all. I'm not young but I still can retain memories in my mind for a couple of days…"

"Oh, you are still young Mildred! But … let's concentrate on the matter at hand, please. Where was I? Oh, yes, Marvin… It seems Miss Holt discovered I left him alone at the office, and she wasn't cheerful about that, Mildred. In fact, she was a little distressed about it. The thing is Mildred that my mind betrayed me at some point of our _disagreement_ , and I told her that it was your idea leaving Marvin alone at the office. I know that I am a coward, and that I should have never put you in such a situation, but the thing is that as our exchange got serious, that excuse seemed perfect for me to run away from Laura's reprimand. First, I want to apologize to you. And second, my dear Mildred…can you think a way out for us to follow together once we meet her?"

"I have to tell you something, boss. It wasn't your idea…" she was looking regretful…

He was looking at her not understanding what she meant.

"I was the one who asked Marvin to be here yesterday to help us by staying at the office while we were out in the first place. I never supposed we were going to be out of the office for such a long time, but then you asked me to lunch and I couldn't refuse…"

He was very serious, "Interesting. I could have sworn it was my idea…"

"Oh boss, I'm sorry, I'm very sorry," she told him while biting her lower lip looking very worried.

"It's ok, Mildred, it's ok. I'm only confused about if I should feel _more silly_ or _less guilty_ …Not certainly a big matter, but intriguing, indeed"

"I'll take all the responsibility in this one boss…but I want something in exchange…"

"Ah, Mildred not again asking for a pay raise in Miss Holt's absence please…" he begged her.

"Don't worry boss, I wasn't talking about that. I was talking about you and Marvin…" she gave him a serious gaze.

"Marvin and me? What about that Mildred?" he asked briefly.

"I know you two are planning something. I don't want to be punished because of some activities I wasn't really aware of, chief."

"Nothing goes unnoticed under your sight, eh? Haven't you thought about being a detective, Mildred?"

"I'm all ears boss, spill it," answered Mildred.

"Ok Mildred. I asked him to be Miss Holt's backup in her current case."

"Sounds dangerous for him boss. Mostly because of Miss Holt finding out."

"I know, Mildred. That's why I asked him this favor to be top secret. Can I ask that of you too?"

"Ok. I won't tell anybody. And what will he have to do, Mr. Steele?" she asked enjoying the intrigue and feeling as an ally.

"Let me explain the details to you, Mildred."


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The entire classroom was working in perfect silence. Despite Laura's doubts, her explanation was satisfactory, and after a few trials on the blackboard, the girls were making an individual exercise to be handed to the teacher at the end of the hour. Thursday was the worst day of the week. She would have to start at the first hour, and after it the girls will be having other subjects along the day. They would return to have math again for the last hour in the afternoon. Laura would have some time to make a revision to the morning exercises and if some of them would have serious mistakes she would have the chance to evacuate doubts or clarify her prior explanation before the end of the day. She would have some time during her schedule also, to work on her case analyzing another group of pupils. This time the choice would be the group with the worst qualifications, to have the spectrum wide opened.

The members of that group were: Catherine Rodgers, Debbie Ryan, Cynthia Miller, Anne Somers and Alexandra Henry. Once the classroom was empty, Miss Holt closed the door, looked for the manila folder in the locker, and began reading with her notebook ready to be filled with useful discoveries. Catherine was the one with really bad qualifications, Cynthia was extremely competent in sports, and Alexandra was in big trouble because of her behavior. She had several warnings. Laura noticed that this time there was no information about scholarships in their reports, because the only one that would have scraped the chance with her performance was Alexandra, but her behavior had suspended any opportunity for that.

After finishing with her analysis, she was thinking that her investigation would take a turn after Friday. This day she would have the chance to be face to face with all the girls from her House. It would be an opportunity because sports are one of the things in which everybody's true personality emerges. She would be able to see every girl as she really was. She would have to be careful with her performance though, because showing herself as a very confident one would shoo the true guilty one out of her reach.

Mr. Steele had left the office in the limo, just to have his image reassured as a rich man. The day before, Mildred had found that one of the Cayman companies was assessed by an important lawyers Bureau in Los Angeles, Nixon Parker & Stevens. He was on the way to its offices to meet one of the partners. This would be the end of the thread. With some luck, this job would be completed quickly, leaving him free to be helping Laura in the real case the agency was interested to solve.

In the meantime, Marvin was following Mr. Steele's instructions verbatim. The detective had asked him to be close to Laura but without allowing her to see him by any chance, and not allowing him to be discovered by anyone else at the School as well. He was making sure his mission would be accomplished with success, to make his boss proud of his intern. He was ready to start with Mr. Steele's plan.

The day went on, and Mildred stayed at the office, still searching for any clue to follow in Mr. Steele's case. The printer was delivering fast responses to her sharp investigations. One of the real reasons about the Remington Steele Agency's success was Mildred's accurate ability to shoot her investigative darts right at the perfect target. She knew where to ask, who to look for and where to find him. And _everybody loved Mildred_ , so she always got what she was looking for…

It was near lunch when the agency doors opened. "Good afternoon, Mildred," said Miss Holt.

"Good afternoon, Miss Holt. What are you doing here, honey? I supposed you were going to be at school the whole day," she answered with surprise.

"I had my first teaching turn in the early morning, and since my pupils did their exercise without trouble, I finished with my paperwork there and decided to come here to have lunch with you."

"Oh, that's nice, honey. Girls lunch out? Just like our night out for the girls but only having lunch. Do you want to stay here or should we go outside?"

"Maybe we should go outside, Mildred. Let's enjoy the beautiful day. Is Mr. Steele at the office?" she asked in a nonchalant way, but knowing in advance the answer would be negative. She had talked with Fred before coming to the office.

"No Miss Holt. He is in a meeting with some lawyers. We found some useful clues at the Police Station yesterday, so after we returned I did some research and got him an appointment at Nixon, Parker & Stevens. He should be back here anytime soon."

"Well, that leaves the two of us to have lunch alone then. Should we go?"

They closed the agency doors and went directly to Laura's restaurant choice. Once their orders were ready, Laura opened the conversation going directly to the point, "How was the day at the office with Marvin working there yesterday, Mildred?"

"Oh, Miss Holt…I have to apologize. I wasn't thinking when I asked him to be there while Mr. Steele and I were at the Police Station. My mistake, I'm very sorry Miss Holt."

"Did Mr. Steele have a talk with you this morning, Mildred?"

"Yes, he made me realize that it was a very risky move. I assure you Miss Holt, he will not be in charge at the office anymore. Never again, I promise." She carefully measured her words, not telling Laura that the boy wasn't under her orders anymore, but still under Mr. Steele's orders, not in the agency, but outside.

"It's very dangerous to have someone working at the office without enough guaranties, you know that, Mildred. Marvin could had been attacked, kidnapped or merely had an accident while being there, and the agency would have been in such a serious problem. Never do it again, please."

"You have my word, Miss Holt."

"Although this was the principal topic that I had in mind to talk about with you today, I want to ask you something…"

Mildred was beginning to feel worried. She wasn't lying to Miss Holt until now. But if she knew her well, once having her first task solved, the lady detective would immediately follow through the next one without wasting any time. If Miss Holt was suspicious about something at the office, she was ready to find responses to clear her doubts.

"I know how you love to protect your loved surrogate ones, but please answer me with the truth, Mildred. Would you betray them because of duty?" asked a serious Miss Holt. She knew she had put the secretary between the sword and the wall with her accurate shot.

"I think that my loved surrogate ones are capable of handling their own life staying on the duty side, Miss Holt. I'm sure they wouldn't put me in that position. I trust in them. Do you trust in your beloved ones, Miss Holt?" With that questioning answer she disoriented her inquisitor.

"Well, sure I do, Mildred."

"That's good. Then we are on the same team, honey."

"Of course," answered Laura. But the question remained in her mind for some time…

They continued their lunch, and after that each of them returned to their own obligations; Laura to School, and Mildred to the office. Mr. Steele had arrived back in her absence. "Mr. Steele, Miss Holt came to the office…"

"What? Did something happen to her?" he asked kind of alarmed.

"No, she wanted to talk with me. We had lunch together, gal to gal, you know…"

"What did she want to talk about, Mildred?"

"I think she is suspecting something's happening with Marvin, Mr. Steele."

"What did you tell her, Mildred?" he asked, suspicious about a betrayal…

"I didn't tell her anything this time, Mr. Steele. But I don't know what I will do if she asks again. I was able to find a way out without lying this time, but I don't think that will be the case if she makes another try. And I certainly don't want to lie to her…"

"I know, Mildred. Let me talk with her later. I'll make sure she will not ask you anymore."

After her second round of teaching, the day was over and Laura would have to face Mr. Steele and apologize to him. He was telling her the truth last night, as she corroborated at lunch. She had pushed him against the wall with anger, not being completely fair with him. Besides, working all day out of the office, not having the chance to enjoy his little touches along the day, it was driving her crazy. She was missing him, and she knew he was missing her as well. As she would not have to prepare her class for the next day, because of the Sports Day already scheduled, she would have the chance to relax and spend a nice evening with him. Maybe being in a neutral territory would help, so dinner out was her selected choice. A truce sounded right.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Laura made a detour by Century City on her way home, and when she arrived at the office she found him still working with Mildred. She entered into his office, "Hi… I hoped to find you here," she told him walking slowly towards him.

Noticing she would be a third wheel in about one second, Mildred stood up from her seat, and greeting Laura on her way out, she left Mr. Steele's office.

"Hi…I knew you would still remember your partner detective working here." He stood up from his chair and went to meet her. The embrace was long and warm.

"I missed you," she told him. "I was thinking about… Would you have dinner with me?"

"I would love to have dinner with you. I missed you too."

That was all they needed to say. They both knew it wasn't working as a good idea not being together, and that it wasn't going to last. Their unnecessary resistance lasted four years, too much indeed. They closed his office door and left the place under Mildred's approving gaze.

A nice but simple place was Laura's choice for the date. Italian food and some delicious Chianti was their menu selection.

"Did you find anything new in your case?" asked Laura.

"Yes. We are on the right path. Mildred discovered some information that brought us to a law firm, and I found interesting things there this morning. Maybe it will not be necessary to play a millionaire to approach the real investors. I will wait until the rest of the info pops up, and then I'll go to see Jarvis to finish our participation in this case. What about yours? Did you find anything new?"

"I'm not sure. I am following two different patterns at the moment. The first one will be investigating the pupils having behavior trouble. They might have stolen the tests just for fun, to demonstrate to the school authorities that they are smarter than the teachers; you know, the pupil trying to be superior to the mentor."

He was following her theories with apprehensive attention.

"And the second one would be a money issue. Maybe the thief needed the money and did it for that reason. To sell the information. But both theories are still in diapers. I have to spend more time working there to at last have a real glimpse of the pupils. I'll have a good chance tomorrow, because we have sports all day. Did I tell you I will have to participate in the competitions?"

"No, you didn't. I suppose we didn't have a communicative evening last night; a disturbing fact that I have in mind to correct tonight with your help."

"With my help…?" she asked him with fun. "And what plan is your brilliant mind developing, Mr. Steele? Just to be communicative, you know…"

"Perhaps I'd rather show you later…" he stared at her.

"Perhaps I'd rather let you do that, Mr. Steele." She returned his stare with an intense one of her own.

He raised his hand with decision to the waiter, "Check, please."

Friday morning arrived with a beautiful day, blue sky, no clouds. The sun warming everything.

The campus was ready to have a sports day activity. The School Maintenance Staff had taken care of that. Everything was in place to start with the competitions at the scheduled time.

Miss Holt had to meet with her team at her classroom, and everybody would be ready to start at 9:00am. The running competitions would take place in the morning, followed with the swimming ones in the afternoon. Tennis matches ending the day. Although Laura wasn't aware about how enthusiastic the pupils on her team would be, she was suddenly anxious to be ready to play the best performance possible. That would push the athletic girl's mind into motion, and would help to give some welcomed courage to the less athletic ones. After a brief but serious warm up training on the campus, everybody was ready to start. The day would begin with a series of relay races, followed by some sprints, and after that the cross country races would be the last event before lunch.

Although Laura was enjoying this beautiful day outdoors doing some exercises, she was executing a plan to tempt the thief this day as well. She would leave her locker unlocked through the whole day, leaving some fake tests with copies inside it waiting to be taken. Perhaps she would have some luck and catch the thief stealing the things; or if she didn't find the chance to do that, she would catch her in the next test, being the only one succeeding with the _correct_ results, but not knowing that they had a trap inside.

In the meantime, Mr. Steele arrived at the office at his usual time, with his usual cheerful mood, "Morning, morning, morning."

Mildred felt such a relief when she heard him, knowing that things would work better this day. She had the information they were waiting for, and the only detail remaining was to find the head of the R.I.F. Company. "Good morning, Mr. Steele. I see your working day is starting less stressed than yesterday's."

"Straight to business, Mildred. Straight to business," he told her going in a rush into his office.

"Your paper is on your desk, and I'll be in with your tea in a moment, boss." She was aware that the man needed to follow his routines before being caught in a full work day. In about half an hour she would be ready to jump into his office with the news about the case, and they would figure out their next steps.

She was carrying the tea to his place while they almost crashed at his door. "Oh, sorry Mildred, I'll have my tea later. Be an angel and find some croissants to go with it. I'll be here in less than two hours. Go on with your invaluable ability, and find more accurate information to share with your boss, Miss Krebs. Bye, bye." He left her cup of tea in hand, looking to the agency door with no words coming out from her mouth.

Mr. Steele's behavior at the office had a reason. He had a prior commitment to attend. He had to meet with Marvin to be enlightened about the news of their _private investigation_. As he told Laura that Mr. Slottman wasn't going to be at the office anymore, and he didn't want Mildred involved in any lies in the line of duty, he decided the safest movement was to meet his intern at a gas station near the school. They would share the news and plan the new steps of the operation without being discovered by either of the women.

Mildred followed Mr. Steele's instructions after she recovered from the initial shock. The man was again hiding something, she was sure, but she didn't really want to know anything else about that. If Mr. Steele was hiding things from Miss Holt, it didn't feel correct to be a part of that scam, she had decided last night. Miss Holt had been very comprehensive and generous after her mistake about Marvin, and she wasn't going to disappoint her anymore covering her boss indiscretions. Well, at least not twice in only one week.

Laura was recovering her breath after her first try. She didn't arrive in first place, but still being in 3rd place she added some points to her House. The girls surrounded her and everybody was thrilled with her performance. Having teachers on the teams gave the girls a discouraging feeling. They were mostly old, and the final result was usually not satisfactory. Finding they would have a chance to be the winners at the end of the day, thanks to Miss Holt's performances, put everyone's energy in overdrive. After a couple of minutes, Laura excused herself to go to find something to drink. In a very discreet way, she decided to make a slight detour and went to the classroom to check if the thief had made a try with the dirty job. She arrived to the place and noticed that her hunch was a correct one. The papers were gone, but there was no trace about the thief. She checked the corridor, went to the bathrooms, but every place was empty. Then she decided to return to the campus, trying to avoid suspicion from the robbery's author.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Mr. Steele arrived back at the agency in the same rush than he left. Without stopping in his tracks, he just greeted Mildred with an "I'm back, Mildred", and closed his office door behind him. Mildred decided to wait for his intercom call. She didn't have the need to be mixed in his game. If he didn't want her in it, she wasn't going to be the one begging. Once his voice sounded through the intercom she started with the usual routines of the day …again.

They studied the new information the secretary found. She had a hunch that if the money was rushing out of the dead man's accounts, it was being introduced into another known one. Maybe it was into the widow's one; but that was too obvious. As the dead man had a prior family, with two sons and a daughter, she decided to give it a chance there, and ran an investigation about their current financial situation. Edward, the older son, was the one going to the police suspecting something out of control in his father investments. Phillip, the younger one, was distanced from his father since a long time ago, and living somewhere in Europe without a known address. And the daughter, Catherine, was finally the one Mildred's target was on. She was married and her husband Paul owned a trading company in the stock market. Last year it hadn't been the best for Mr. Patterson's business and at the end of the year the company was going fast to bankruptcy. After a strong liquid investment into the company, the actions bounced up, and the risk descended. Even with that, the company was again in financial trouble. The clues that took Miss Krebs attention were that the dates of the route of the money were simultaneous with Mr. Bell's bank account debts, and Mr. Patterson's company's foreign investments. It seemed that Mr. Bell was discreetly injecting money into his son-in-law's company, without allowing the other members of the family to give an opinion about that decision. Death surprised him and he drove the secret into his grave. Nobody in the family was able to decipher the route of the money, except for the ones who had received it. And they were trying to keep the secret under lock and key. They weren't thinking about returning the money in the near future to have it distributed among every member of the family. The last thing Mildred had resolved was the name of the company. As Mr. Bell was putting a lot of his own money directly in the coffers of his old family, not giving his current wife and new sons the chance to grab a cent of it, R.I.F. would mean Returning Investments to Family. Bingo. The guilty one was supposed to be Mr. Bell's son in law, Mr. Patterson.

"Well done Mildred. I knew we were right onto the target. Perhaps we should put everything together and make a visit to Detective Jarvis in the afternoon. That would leave us in front of a free weekend!" he finished his words raising an eyebrow.

"But Mr. Steele, we will still be working on Miss Holt's case," said the secretary.

"You said the accurate words Mildred. It's _Miss Holt's case_ , not ours. If she wants to work over the weekend, I will not complain about it. But since the agency is usually closed on weekends, and there is no more case catching our attention, she would have to allow us to help her."

"You are right boss. Let me wrap this whole thing and then we'll go to see Jarvis."

The races were over and the Red House was the winner house of the morning. The spirit between the members of the team was splendid, and the next task after lunch was the swimming routine. The girls were getting ready for the next challenge in the dressing room, and everybody was euphoric commenting on the last event. Laura was feeling really good because her old school spirit was still alive, and she was having a great time while working, as always.

The swimming schedule was ready to start, and the whole Red House Team was waiting at one side of the swimming pool. The swimming coach called the swimmers, and everybody walked to the start line; everybody but one swimmer, June Patterson. Laura was checking over everybody's movement all around the place looking for her, when she saw June coming from the dressing room. The girl seemed to be in a hurry and a bit flushed. "June! Hurry up! Your race is ready to start. Go to your place! Laura shouted at her, not being able to stay out of the spirit of the competition. The girl ran to take her place, and right after putting her body into the start position, the signal sounded and everybody jumped into the water. The race was started. It was a very hard competition, but June swam with such a style. She won by one second. Miss Holt went to congratulate her, and within two minutes, the next race was started with everybody's eyes following it.

After the swimming routine was over, with the Blue House as a winner this time, the team went to the dressing room again, to change and be ready for the tennis challenge. Six girls were on charge in this one. The first match started, and the Green House won against the Red one. When the second one was going to start, the team asked Laura to play this one to avoid being out of the competition after two consecutive defeats. She agreed, and of course, the match finished with the Red Team as a winner. The afternoon went on, and by the end of it every competition was over right on schedule. The Red House didn't end as the winner, but they arrived in second place after the Green House. This seemed to be not bad at all. Once everything was over, Miss Holt returned to her classroom to take a look at her trap. The papers were back in place. The job was done.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

After making an interesting visit to Detective Jarvis with Mildred, Mr. Steele was officially off the case. He decided to go home and wait to meet Laura there. They were attending a cocktail party this evening, and he was eager to be there to put an end to the work activities of the week. After the hard way Laura had been working the entire week, he was feeling some relief with her being able to have some resting time. He suddenly felt worried because his intern didn't make contact with him for the whole day, but maybe Marvin was still working, as Laura was. He returned to his previous thoughts, and decided to start getting himself ready for the night. A full deserved weekend was waiting for them, and his plan was to spend it carrying her to his favorite world, enjoying pleasurable activities together without having work intruding until Monday.

Laura went to see Miss Rydell before leaving the school. She told her that the trap had been stolen, and that they would have to wait until Monday, the day settled for the test, to know the thief's identity. She left the School and went to the dry cleaner to pick up the cocktail dress she would be wearing tonight. She arrived to Rossmore just in time. She was really tired, but when she opened the door and saw that Mr. Steele was in the living room almost ready, buttoning his shirt cufflinks, she put her tiredness aside and apologized. "Sorry I'm late," she said in a hurry. "I was speaking with Miss Rydell and lost track of time. I'll be ready in a minute," she told him while taking off her shoes and walking to their bedroom to get herself ready...

The party wasn't very animated. Although it was Friday night, everybody seemed to be tired, and in the need to jump directly into Saturday, trying to go on with the night as quickly as possible. For Miss Holt and for Mr. Steele it was not different. They were walking through the door ready to escape from the boring reunion when the sound of a voice behind them stopped them right in front of the exit. "Miss Holt, what are you doing here?" asked a young female voice. The surprise about finding a simple school teacher mixed with the glamour of the LA night was certainly unexpected for the girl.

Laura turned herself, and looking at the young lady, she finally recognized her. "Hello, Alexandra. What are you doing here?" she asked a bit uncomfortable. One of her nightmares was at her door. Alexandra would speak about the handsome Mr. Steele at School.

Mr. Steele realized that the young lady might be one of Miss Holt's students and he remained in silence. He let them talk trying to stay out of the exchange, but it was late. The bold girl had just noticed him, and was eagerly looking to Miss Holt asking her in silence to introduce them. Just when Laura was going to do that, another girl arrived to the conversation. It was June Patterson. She politely introduced herself and remained in silence while Laura finally, recovering from her surprise of finding these two different girls there together, made the introductions.

"I'm surprised to find both of you here," said Laura.

"We are with my parents. We are supposed to be here just for a while, because we have tickets to the Ballet," answered June.

They had a brief chat, with Laura telling the girls how much she loved ballet, when June excused herself because her father was waving to her from the opposite side of the room, telling her that it was time to leave.

Mr. Steele was thinking about how to extricate Laura from that boring chat with her pupils, when a bell rang in his mind. The name Patterson had been said. The same name Mildred and he were struggling with, during the whole day at the office. He had to get Laura out of the place before the girl or someone else would recognize him as a detective. He needed to tell his partner about the coincidence. But, was it really a coincidence?

Once they were again walking towards the exit, he told Laura, "The name Patterson popped up in the case I managed with Jarvis this week, Laura."

"What? You didn't tell me! Why didn't you tell me?" she told him looking not particularly happy.

"I don't know…we've just met at home, we were in a hurry, and I didn't want to have work interfering with our last activity of the week," he told her.

"June Patterson is one of the suspects on my case. I left a trap ready to be stolen from my locker this afternoon, and it worked. I noticed June arriving late to her swimming race, which would mean that she had the chance to steal it. Maybe there is a relevant connection between both of our cases after all, Mr. Steele," said Laura.

"Let's get out of here before it gets too late, Laura. I need to tell you something." At this point he was dragging her out of the place.

"Wait! Why are you running? Don't push me like that! What do you need to tell me?"

"Let's go out of here to have a talk."

"Why can't you tell me here?"

"Because I don't want you upset with me in front of all those people," He told her.

Laura stopped in her tracks just realizing something really wrong was going to be confessed. "Stop! What are you talking about?"

"Oh my God, I will not be able to be far from paperwork for a year…" he said almost begging.

"Mr. Steele…"

"Ok, Laura. Remember that I told you that Marvin working at the office was Mildred's idea?"

"Don't tell me that it wasn't and I had that ugly chat with her without a real reason!" she interrupted.

"No, that was her idea, of course. But do you remember that I told you that he wasn't going to be working at the office as an intern anymore?"

"Don't tell me that you did hire him again and you didn't tell me!" she shouted.

"I didn't hire him again Laura, but promise me that you are going to be kind with me…"

"By all means, Mr. Steele, what is it?!"

"Marvin is working undercover as your secret backup in your case," he finally told her.

"What? Not only is he not officially part of the office staff, but you sent him into the field on an undercover mission alone? Are you insane?"

"Am I?" he asked…

"I'm beginning to suspect you are. I can't believe that after all these years trying to show you how to have the work done in the right way you did a thing like that," she said.

"I think there's another thing you are not going to believe as well, Laura."

"What!" she said rolling her eyes feeling near to furiousness.

"Marvin is missing."

"Missing? What are you saying?"

"He was supposed to meet me this afternoon, to inform me of the details of the day, and he never called."

"Mr. Steele! What was he supposed to be doing?" she asked.

"He was supposed to be working undercover in a secret mission at your school; following your tracks to be sure you were not in danger there without a backup."

She didn't know what to say. She was really furious then, but under the anger she felt she understood him. If anything went wrong, she was going to be there alone, and he was going to be outside the whole thing, without the possibility to help her. She denied him the possibility of being her back up because of the way she wanted to handle the case. But the way he chose to follow was wrong, and now Marvin seemed to be in a dangerous situation. There was no time to fight. They needed to find Marvin.

"When was the last time you two talked?" she asked him.

"We talked this morning, at the gas station, and then he started with his undercover mission."

"Let's call Miss Rydell," she said.

They arrived at the Marlborough School's main door where Miss Rydell was waiting for them, and after asking her to stay out of the danger by remaining in her office, they went straight to Laura's classroom. Once they were sure that Marvin was not there, they followed the search between several other places in the building without success.

"Didn't he give you a clue about the way he was going to be doing the job?" asked Laura.

"He told me he would manage to have you in his view without being seen. I supposed he would tell me his idea this afternoon, but we never had this talk," he answered.

"Ok. Let's think. If he was going to follow my steps trying not to be noticed, he should have been far from where we were. A man among hundreds of women would have been noticed by everyone. Let's check the buildings around the campus," she said.

They investigated the dressing room, the swimming pool building and the tennis courts, but didn't find a trace of Mr. Slottman.

At last, they arrived at the Gardener's shed, and found him there, gagged and tied up to a chair. They untied him, and after giving him some minutes to catch his breath, he started to provide his report.

"Everything happened after the running was over and everybody disappeared to the dressing rooms, Mr. Steele. I was hiding here, trying not to be seen, when a couple of girls arrived asking for the flare gun. I didn't know where the artifact was supposed to be, so I tried to figure a way out without waking suspicions. Then one of the ladies began to insinuate herself to me…maybe they suspected something because of my overdressed attire… and of course I had to push her away. It was then when the light faded out, and when I woke up I was here, tied and with a gag over my mouth. I tried to shout but it was impossible. Nobody heard me. I'm so sorry, Mr. Steele."

"It's ok, Marvin," Laura told him. "You are not the one supposed to be sorry here…" she gave an acid look to Mr. Steele then.

"But I found something useful for your case, Miss Holt." She returned her eyes to him then.

"What have you found, Marvin?"

"I remember the girls' names. Alexandra and…"

"Let me guess Marvin, the other one was June," said Laura.

"I see why you are working with her Mr. Steele. She is so good!" he told him nodding his head to the boss.

"She is not only good, Marvin. She is the best, indeed," he said looking proudly at Laura.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

The orange light was warming every silhouette outside the apartment. The sun was almost down, and they were enjoying a peaceful afternoon after a long and hard day. Since it was Saturday, they had closed Laura's case after lunch time. After sharing a serious conversation with Mildred, Laura had settled things clearly that if Marvin would be helping them with some cases in the future it should be as expected, following the rules. Nobody would work at their agency under dangerous disadvantage. The three of them arrived to a satisfactory agreement together while enjoying a deserved late lunch.

Miss Rydell received them at her office after last night's events, where they made a complete recounting of the facts, and who they thought were probably the guilty parties. They mentioned that June was having trouble at home, but that they were not able to speak openly about that issue at the moment.

Besides, that sort of behavior was sadly expected from Alexandra, so she would receive a very strong warning, and she would be attending school during the summer. Miss Rydell was supposed to give her parents that information on Monday morning.

They met with June and her parents at school on Saturday afternoon, and after a good inquisition session under Miss Rydell's command, in which her parents remained in a suspicious silence, the girl confessed that she had stolen the exams following Alexandra's idea, because she was terrified about losing her scholarship at Marlboro. As things at home weren't working properly because of her father's business difficulties, if she didn't achieve the best averages in the final tests, she was going to lose her scholarship and she would be out of the school for the last year; which made her feel desperate. Miss Rydell took pity on the girl, and told her that she decided to put aside the whole incident because she was an exemplary student without any previous behavior trouble; but as her behavior was far from being correct, and June was aware of that, she would have to demonstrate her repentance with her own suggested punishment. The girl's whole situation was extremely sad itself to add more pain into it by expelling her from the Institution.

The rest of the case was in detective Jarvis' hands.

They were both on the balcony, leaning on the railing, enjoying the warm sunset, while enjoying a good red wine.

"Laura, are you ok? You seem to be miles away."

"Just thinking about the case and about June and her whole situation. It's so sad. Why do some parents put all that pressure on their kids? It's not fair. It shouldn't be like this. I would never do that."

He noticed her remark about the possibility of trying to be a good a mother to her children. It was the first time she was speaking about the topic since he had asked her about how she would balance work and family in the supposition of being a mother. But he felt they were not in the mood to get tangled in such relevant issues this night, and decided to move the conversation forward by focusing them again on the case. There would be plenty of opportunities in the future to resume the parenthood topic.

"Why don't we think about the positive lesson this case is leaving us?" he suggested to her.

"Is there one?" asked a slightly disappointed Laura.

"Of course there is, Laura. There's always one positive lesson to learn. Just think about our client, Miss Rydell, all her beloved principles, her deep love for that school, her search for creativity, for sense of responsibility and moral decisiveness. I would have sworn that she was a very old fashioned teacher, and that the punishment she would impose on June would be hitting her on her hands with a ruler or an expulsion, perhaps. But with the punishment she chose, the old lady taught the girl that behind a mistake, if there is repentance, there is always an opportunity."

Laura was caught by his statement. She turned and looked at him. "Maybe you are right…" and thinking suspiciously for a moment about his last words she asked him, "But why do I suspect that there is something else hidden behind your words, Mr. Steele?"

"Well, Laura, if you consider yourself a good teacher, too, maybe you would apply the same rules to your favorite pupil…"

Noticing that they were talking about morals and values, not a usual topic coming out from his mouth, she asked him with hope, "Are we talking about a serious repentance about your latest behavior, Mr. Steele?"

He took her glass in his hands, and after putting it beside his own on the railing, he pulled her in his arms, his lips inches from hers. "Why, Miss Holt! You are cutting me to the quick…I was talking about opportunity…"


End file.
